Tabris' Vengeance
by Bodacious Bovine
Summary: Trigger Warning: Nessa, Kallian's best friend since childhood, was cruelly raped and beaten by a human noble before Kallian could save her. Now, he must face the consequences of his evil at Tabris' merciless hands.


Nessa isn't an OC, she's the elvish girl who's father is forcing them to move due to not being able to pay rent in the city elf origin.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age.

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Kallian hated the Alienage. In particular, she hated the way the humans thought they were entitled to any _service_ her people could offer, often "free of charge." Luckily her mom had taught her self-defense when she was younger, because as soon as she became of an age to be noticed by men, she had needed any edge she could get to defend herself from them. She was rather intelligent and quickly realized that the young elfin boys weren't taken quite as often as the girls to be some noble's commodity for the night, or for however long they so desired. Because of this, she would usually bind her chest and wear stolen men's clothing to hide her gender. She used the disguise most often when she'd creep into Denerim, covering the tips of her ears while still dressed as a young boy, to pick pockets, steal unwatched merchandise, or merely to explore the world outside of the alienage without having to deal with all of the shit that came along with being an elfin woman. She knew basic stealth techniques, how to pick all of the rather basic and rusty locks that could be found in the alienage along with some of the more sophisticated ones in Denerim, and she was minimally versed in poison lore and which poisons had certain effects and the amounts needed to get the effect you wanted. And all three of these factors were key to her current mission.

Kallian was in the process of dragging her cousin Soris along for a few last misadventures before both of their fiancées arrived next week. They had snuck outside the Alienage past the curfew, due to Kallian's intimate knowledge of the wall surrounding the Alienage and its most scalable parts. The wall had been built for many reasons, mainly so that the noble's wouldn't have to look at the wretched squalor whenever they entered town, but also to keep any diseases, that might spread among the poor and uncleanly, within the alienage and away from them. Kallian and Soris had dressed in dull grey colors to match the scenery and she crept along the roads with stealth and a practiced ease that spoke of her expansive knowledge of the area. Soris, however, was stumbling along behind her, trying his best to keep as quiet as she did and failing spectacularly. She looked over her shoulder and laughed at him, teasing him in a hushed voice, "One would think you were born a _shem_ with all of the noise you make."

Soris finally caught up to her as she paused to wait for him in a dark alley, "Well forgive me for not feeling the need to flaunt the laws every night like you do. Some of us actually like to get sleep at night."

Her laugh was sardonic, "But that's the best time of day."

Soris merely rolled his eyes at her in response. She then motioned to point out a local nobleman's house. "That's our target, Soris."

"What the hell? Kallian, are you crazy? You can't steal from him! If he finds out the entire alienage will go up in flames. Lord Abendroth is one of the most powerful men in the city! If he catches you-" Soris was cut off as she covered his lips with her fingers and made a gesture for him to quiet down.

"Number one, if you keep yelling like that we're both screwed before we ever even reach his estate. Number two, I never get caught." Kallian smiled as she winked at him playfully and started to walk towards the estate. As Soris started to follow her she shook her head and walked him back into the alley. "You're not coming with me farther than this," she shook her head as he was about to interrupt and hurriedly went on, "Look, I need you to wait here until dawn if necessary. If I haven't come back by then I'll need you to go back and warn my dad about what happened and that I most likely won't be returning. You can't come with me because you know as well as I do that you'd be much more of a hindrance than a help." Her light teasing smile only partially alleviated the pain on his bruised ego. But in all honesty, he didn't want to go in there with her and she knew that as surely as she knew that he would stay exactly where she told him to, wracking his brains with worry, until the moment he saw her leave that accursed estate. .. or until dawn arrived. Kallian hugged him quickly and then turned and ran off.

Normally sneaking into a noble's house was quick and simple, after all, she never extended her visits beyond what was necessary for grabbing whatever looked valuable and running as quickly and as quietly as she could so she wouldn't get caught, but this time would be different. This time, she had a personal vendetta against Lord Abendroth, and she was prepared to reap her vengeance. She had been planning this for months, and she didn't want her future husband to be forced to deal with any repercussions of her actions, if there were any. However, she had planned this in the hopes that nobody would ever realize she was involved. She knew that if one elf was incarcerated for an offense against a noble that the rest of the elves in the alienage would pay for it as well. She desperately didn't want to bring any trouble to her people for the gratification of a personal grievance against the man. But he had raped her good friend Nessa, and, while she had been able to interrupt him and beat his ass before he "finished," her friend had remained emotionally scarred and had completely changed since then. Nessa now hardly ever left the alienage, and when she did, she never left alone. Kallian had tried her damnedest to get the girl to smile again, but what had once been given so freely and with abandon, was now scarcer than a High Dragon.

She knew how to throw the suspicion off of her in a way that prevented any questions from being asked and she was almost positive her plan would work without a hitch. She climbed the vines of a nearby home to reach its rooftop and used a grapple she had stolen from a guard's warehouse and used it to reach the wall that lined his estate. It was a good place to sneak in, because it was at the juncture farthest from the guard houses. She tugged the rope to make sure the hook was securely latched onto the ledge of the bulwark, and she lightly jumped off of the roof and landed with her feet in between her and the wall. Then she used the leverage the rope offered, and "walked" up the wall to quietly reach the top and slink over to the other side to drop onto the roof of the second level of the noble's estate. She had staked out his house a few weeks before and had the basic layout pretty well memorized, at least the parts she needed to be familiar with. She knew when all of the guards made their rounds, and she knew that she had a half hour time frame in between each patrol that passed her multiple planned escape routes. She quietly walked over to the balcony that jutted outside his bedroom; _these idiot nobles'll risk anything for a view._ She slipped down and took her time to pick the lock on the glass door that led to the balcony so as to enter his house as quietly as possible. She knew he had guards posted outside his bedroom, and in the courtyard beneath her, but he hadn't deigned to put any on the balcony ledge. She scoffed quietly at his sloppy overconfidence and finally figured out the lock. It was much more sophisticated than the ones she had practiced on in the Alienage, but she had been slipping into Denerim and practicing on other nobles' vaults, chests, and doors for the past month and had improved her speed and accuracy greatly.

She knew his wife was out of town for the night and that any whores he kept ended up being roughly thrown out of room, treated similar to trash, before he slept alone for the night. She had memorized his schedule by heart. She smirked and pulled out a powder that, if breathed in, knocked the intended victim out cold for at least an hour and she proceeded to completely undress and hogtie the man. Then she poured a clear viscous fluid down the back of his throat that would burn through his vocal chords, effectively silencing him. After it had taken effect, she pushed a powder under his nose that neutralized the previous powder and he almost immediately awoke due to the extreme pain induced by the acid slowly burning through his throat. He opened his mouth to scream and no sound came out. Instead he writhed in pain due to the aggravation of his already burning throat. The way his eyes had widened when he realized that he couldn't call for help or do anything to alert the guards that stood mere feet away was comical to her. She smiled cruelly and whispered in his ear, "Apparently you like to rape defenseless women who tremble in fear at your touch, and you get off on their pain. Well, I can't promise to get off on it, but I promise to do my best to enjoy every moment of your terror."

She unsheathed the dagger strapped to her thigh, and held it up to his genitalia. She took in the panic on his face with a dark joy, "If I didn't have to worry about framing a political opponent for this, I would cut off your remaining testicle and your dick and feed them to you afterwards. I would then shove a pole up your ass repeatedly so that you might have some idea of what those women went through. However, that would be like waving a flag around telling the people who found you that this was a personal vendetta being fulfilled. Like I said though, I'm not sure you'll really feel any less pain in the end, because I went looking for something that could fill my need for vengeance while still leaving you with minor injuries that can be attributed to having been necessary for the task of subduing you." She placed her dagger back in its sheath and pulled out another vial of liquid, this one looking just as much like water as the last. "This poison, I had to work very hard to get. It took me weeks to find one suitable for your crime, and then even longer to figure out how to get enough money to buy it and to find someone to sell it to me. " When his eyes widened in surprise, her low chuckle sent a pure jolt of fear through him, "Oh yes, my good sir, I have been planning this for a long time. You probably don't remember every elfin woman you've raped over the years, but you should remember the time when you tried to take a girl in a back alley here in town and I interrupted you. Of course, I was dressed as a human boy then, with my ears covered and my chest wrapped, but I did give you something to remember me by, didn't I?"

She reached down and traced the ugly scar that was left on his pelvis from where she'd used her dagger to cut off his right testicle. "I told you it was a warning and that if I caught you with any woman other than your wife, willing or not, that you would regret it, didn't I?" She smirked as recognition and horror crossed his face. "And then, you barely wait until the warning I gave you is even healed and you rape even _more_ women. I swear, it's like you nobles are entitled not only to riches but idiocy as well. Did you honestly think I wouldn't make good on my promise?" She carefully uncorked the sealed vial and watched in mild amusement and he desperately tried to wriggle away from her. She yanked his head towards her and plugged his nose until he was forced to open his mouth to breathe. She then tipped the vial down his throat and watched him as he began to writhe in pure agony. "This poison is very special and I can't tell you how many things I had to steal from you to be able to pay for it. You'll now become extremely sensitive to any sort of touch. Those ropes will now feel like something akin to knives digging into your skin I'd guess, and anything I do to you will be intensified tenfold. The nice thing about this potion is that it was made with magical properties. It leaves behind no trace of ever having been used." She then yanked on his hair and saw his mouth open to let out another soundless scream. She then slammed her knee into his crotch and watched as tears freely fell from his eyes. She then proceeded to slowly, torturously drag a rough fabric she had brought with her over his skin. While the fabric left no marks on his skin, she knew it had to feel like he was being slowly skinned alive due to the effects of the poison she had given him. When she got to his now over sensitive crotch, she gripped tighter and watched his agonized struggle.

The beauty of the set-up was that the more he struggled, the more pain he inflicted on himself, and she reveled in every moment of it. She then turned and grabbed the teapot left in the stand next to the fire and filled it with water from a skin on her hip. She swung it, so the teapot hung once more over the fire and the water could begin to heat up. She then proceeded to return to where he was still writhing in tortured agony and she then resumed her slow and methodical torture until the water started to steam, but just before it reached its boiling point. She quickly retrieved it and slowly poured it over his already raw skin. He thrashed in extreme anguish, and she imagined it must feel akin to liquid fire running over his skin. But, aside from turning his skin a bit red from the heat, no physical mark bore witness to the unbelievable torment she put him through. She continued to constantly pour the hot water over his too tender skin, and then roughly dry him off. The effect she was hoping for was somewhat like rubbing salt into an open wound. She particularly appreciated the effect she had on him when she reached what was left of his "manhood" once more.

After the teapot was empty she returned it to its stand and pulled out her dagger, he honestly didn't have much more time left anyway, but it was necessary for appearances. She untied his arms and legs, knowing he was far too weak to attempt even basic movements at this point, and dressed him once again in his robes before quietly slitting his throat. She then packed up everything she had brought and made sure everything in the room was exactly as she had left it before leaving behind a small cloth badge that was used to identify Antivan Crows. She had stolen it off of a novice who had happened to be in Denerim on some job. She made sure to make it look like it had torn off in a hurried escape and then she left the room and quietly scaled the wall to get to the roof before making her way over to the guard wall and scaling it a second time after waiting for the guards to pass. She quickly made her way back to Soris who jumped when she suddenly hugged him from behind. "Maker curse you, don't scare me like that!" But despite the anger in his voice he held her tighter, relieved that she was finally back. It was only an hour before dawn; her little task had taken almost the entire night to complete.

Kallian smiled in relief as she relaxed into his arms, he'd always been similar to a big brother for her, as opposed to a mere cousin and she loved him a great deal. He finally pulled away from her and tugged her back towards where they had descended from the wall circling the alienage. "Come on, let's get back before they find out we've broken curfew yet again." Kallian smiled up at him and followed him back home.

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Kallian only slept for a few hours, until midmorning before running over to Nessa's house. As she threw open the front door, she was greeted warmly by her friend's parents without much surprise shown at her sudden grand entrance. The two girls had known each other from childhood and their families got along really well, so even though the girls weren't related by blood, from their viewpoint, they were all part of the same big family. Of course, the alienage was a tight-knit community as it was and most of the elves within considered the community a version of a large extended family, it just so happened that these two had been particularly close. She ran to Nessa who was putting up her hair for the party and dragged her outside to heated protests and playful resistance. Kallian dragged Nessa to a dark corner where they could have some privacy and hugged her. Nessa raised a curious brow, but embraced her friend in return, "So, you wanna tell me what this is all about or are you gonna make me guess?"

Kallian pulled back and looked Nessa in the eye, "You know how I told you that I would take care of Abendroth so that he could never harm you again?"

Nessa gasped in shock and stared at Kallian, even though she had been protected by Kallian, Nessa had always been terrified that Abendroth would one day find her and seek her out to "finish" his "work" in retaliation. She had been battling the constant fear for months and to see the understanding look in her best friend's eyes, she broke down and sobbed in relief. Kallian held Nessa and lightly stroked her hair in a gesture of comfort, "Shh, it'll all be alright now, you'll see. He's dead and he can't hurt you ever again. And don't you worry; I made him go through hell first."

Nessa smiled bitterly, "You better have."

Kallian's twisted, cruel smile made Nessa's grin broaden in response, "Oh I did, shall I describe to you the horrors he went through?"

Nessa shook her head and tucked her head under Kallian's chin, "Later, for now let me just revel in the fact that he's dead and gone. When I've processed this wonderful news and have the ability to fully appreciate work, I promise to hang onto every word you say. . . But Kallian, you're not going to get in trouble for this are you? They won't catch you right?"

Kallian gently kissed her good friend's forehead to reassure her, "Hell no sweetheart, you think I'm an amateur?" As Nessa giggled in response, Kallian's tone turned serious, "I planned this ever since the day he laid his filthy hands on you. I covered all my bases well, besides do you honestly think they'd attribute the assassination of one of the most powerful men in the city to an elfin woman from the Alienage?"

Nessa then smiled sincerely for the first time in months at her good friend, without fear, hatred, or bitterness twisting it, "I don't know how I could ever thank you my friend, but if you ever need _anything_ just name it and I'll do it if I can. I swear it."

Kallian smiled sardonically, "Can you convince my father to pass up the whole marriage idea?"

Nessa laughed, "That would be on the list of things I _can't_ do, I'm afraid. We all know how stubborn your father is."

Kallian snorted, "What use are you?"

Nessa hugged her friend close once more, "Ah, you'll be fine. In a month's time you'll order your fiancé about like it's nothing and he'll jump to do your bidding. Besides, I've heard he's quite the looker, it might not be bad to have one such as he at your beck and call."

Kallian snorted and rubbed Nessa's back gently, "Maybe you have a point there."

Nessa just smiled and the two young women were content to find comfort in one another's presence. For the first time since Nessa had been raped, she felt truly safe and calm in her friend's arms. And although they both knew that the healing process be slow and tough, at the very least, Nessa now felt like she had a chance to find at least some sort of peace and happiness.

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A/N: So sorry I haven't updated my other stories, but I've been struggling though some personal issues in my life and I just haven't had any energy to work on them, however I promise I will finish them eventually. . . and this may end up being a small part of a major multi-origin fic, if I have the time and inclination to write it:) But only after I finish my other stories.


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